At the Heart of the Bastion – Obsidian Crater
The corrupted altar loomed before them like a monument to madness. The floating shards pulsed in sync, each beat sending ripples of green light across the crater floor. Above them, the sky had darkened unnaturally, clouds swirling around a vortex of magic.
Y/N stared down the Cultist Leader, who now stood with arms raised, chanting in a language that gnawed at the edges of sanity. The robed figures around him joined in harmony, their voices rising like a wave.
Chains of magic tightened between the altar and the four floating shards.
Diana stepped forward, daggers already glowing.
Diana: "We stop the chant, we stop the ritual."
Gray: "You hope."
Masumi: "Doesn't matter. We have to try."
Erza summoned her Heaven's Wheel armor, twin swords materializing at her sides.
Erza: "On my mark."
But before they could charge, the ground beneath their feet split open—massive roots twisted with glowing runes burst forth, separating the group.
Y/N fell back as the crater rumbled, nearly losing his footing. A massive root lashed out, striking near his head. He ducked, rolled, and sprang to his feet—only to come face-to-face with the Cultist Leader.
The man's mask was gone now.
His face was not what Y/N expected—young, sharp-boned, with eyes that glowed green with power and pain.
Cultist Leader: "You feel it, don't you? The shard in your chest... it remembers."
Y/N's eyes widened.
Y/N: "What did you say?"
The Cultist Leader pointed to Y/N's chest—where, beneath his shirt, the first crystal shard he'd found now pulsed, synchronized with the altar.
Cultist Leader: "You're not just a vessel. You're the anchor."
Y/N's hands ignited in flame.
Y/N: "I don't care what you think I am."
Cultist Leader: "But you should. The Verdant Flame isn't a beast. It's a being. A sealed dragon... one that burned the world once. And it chose you."
The altar behind him surged with power.
From its core, a roar erupted—one that shook the bones of the earth.
The Bastion was awakening.
⸻
Scattered but Unbroken
Across the battlefield, Diana fought off two cultists, spinning between their attacks with lethal grace.
Diana (gritting her teeth): "Y/N, whatever this anchor thing is—end it now!"
Masumi sent a shockwave into the ground, buying time for Erza to shatter one of the floating shards with a blade of pure light.
Gray conjured a wall of ice to block a rush of magic, his voice strained.
Gray: "If one goes down, the spell breaks!"
Erza: "Then we take them all!"
The team split, each targeting a shard.
Diana vanished in a blur and reappeared behind the second shard, slicing through the magic chains binding it. The moment it fell, the altar screamed—literally. A psychic shriek echoed through their skulls.
Masumi tore through vines to reach the third, his lightning-enhanced punch breaking the seal with explosive force.
Only one remained.
But as Y/N turned toward it, the Cultist Leader moved—fast.
⸻
The Inner Fire Unleashed
The Cultist Leader raised his hand. The shard in Y/N's chest answered—not willingly, but instinctively. Green fire surged up Y/N's spine, overwhelming his senses.
His knees buckled.
Diana screamed his name, but it felt miles away.
[System Alert: Draconic Memory Fragment – Breach Detected]
Y/N gasped.
Suddenly, visions flooded his mind—scenes of a green dragon the size of a mountain, wings cloaked in emerald flame, razing cities, roaring at the heavens.
The Verdant Flame.
And it saw him.
The memory saw Y/N. And it smiled.
He collapsed to his knees, gasping, clutching his chest. The shard embedded there now cracked, leaking pure green fire.
The Cultist Leader grinned, triumphant.
Cultist Leader: "The Bastion doesn't need your permission to awaken. It needs your pain. Your fire. You are the final key."
But then...
Y/N stood.
Slowly. Shaking. But rising.
Y/N: "No... I'm not your key. I'm your warden."
He slammed his fist into the shard in his chest—and absorbed it.
Green light exploded from his body, swirling upward into the sky. The final shard shattered in response, and the ritual's chains broke with a thunderclap.
The altar cracked.
The Cultist Leader staggered back, shielded his face—but too late.
The Bastion exploded outward in a burst of magical shockwave, flinging cultists across the crater.
⸻
Silence After the Storm
Ash fell like snow.
The altar was gone—reduced to ruin. The forest was still again, only the hum of residual magic in the air.
Erza, Gray, Masumi, and Diana regrouped around Y/N, who now stood in the center of a scorched circle, steam rising from his shoulders.
His eyes still glowed faintly green—but they were his own again.
Diana stepped forward carefully.
Diana: "Y/N...?"
Y/N nodded, breath ragged.
Y/N: "It's contained. For now."
Gray: "What the hell was that?"
Erza: "A sealed dragon spirit. And if what that cultist said was true... it lives inside him now."
Y/N: "No. I live beside it. It may have chosen me—but I chose who I am."
Masumi grinned, panting.
Masumi: "Badass."
⸻
Later That Night – Campfire by the Ruins
They made camp just outside the crater, too tired to return yet. Diana sat beside Y/N, silent for a long time.
Then she finally spoke.
Diana: "So. A dragon spirit, huh?"
Y/N chuckled weakly.
Y/N: "Didn't see that one coming either."
She reached into her pouch, pulling out the second shard he'd found days ago—still cracked, but now inert.
Diana: "Then let's find the rest. Before they do."
Y/N took it from her, nodding.
Y/N: "Yeah. Let's finish this."